DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Misstates Meaning of Habeas Corpus in Senate Hearing

Dhs Secretary Kristi Noem Misstates Meaning Of Habeas Corpus In Senate Hearing

Let’s talk about what just happened in Washington, because—wow.

During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Monday, Kristi Noem, recently tapped as the new Secretary of Homeland Security (yep, that Kristi Noem), got hit with a basic civics question.

BREAKING: In a stunning moment, Kristi Noem FAILS to define what habeas corpus is. No wonder why this Administration doesn’t comply with court orders. They don’t even know what the law says. pic.twitter.com/EiLEGYMxLo

— Trump Lie Tracker (Commentary) (@MAGALieTracker) May 20, 2025

What is habeas corpus?

And folks, her answer… was not it.

“It’s a constitutional right that the president has to remove people from this country and suspend their rights,” Noem told the committee.

Cue the record scratch.

Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, clearly stunned, wasted no time correcting her. “That is not what habeas corpus means,” Hassan shot back, per AP News. “It’s a constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment.”

Which, you know, is kind of a big deal. Like, Miranda rights-level basic.

Noem, sticking to her line, claimed presidents like Lincoln and Roosevelt had suspended it before. True, but it’s not a move presidents can just pull out like a pen from their jacket pocket. As the Constitution puts it, suspending habeas corpus is only allowed in “cases of rebellion or invasion,” and it’s Congress—not the White House—that typically gets to make that call.

This isn’t a pop quiz flub. This is a real-time civics faceplant, right in front of lawmakers and the cameras.

And it couldn’t come at a more sensitive time.

Why? Because, according to Politico, there’s chatter in Trumpworld about using a similar strategy to speed up mass deportations—possibly suspending habeas corpus under the claim of an “invasion” at the southern border.

Legal experts are waving red flags. Loud ones.

Noem’s comment raised eyebrows, alarm bells, and probably a few law school professors from their chairs. As WGLT News pointed out, this kind of misstatement isn’t just embarrassing—it’s dangerous when the person saying it has direct influence over immigration and civil liberties.

Also, someone please get this woman a pocket Constitution. Seriously.

For a country that prides itself on due process, this kind of slip-up feels less like a harmless mix-up and more like a warning sign in flashing neon. If our top homeland official doesn’t understand basic protections like habeas corpus, what else is getting lost in translation?

We’ve seen this movie before—and it doesn’t end well.